SANTIAGO.- For the ninth consecutive year Industria de Tabaco León Jimenes and the Pontifical Catholic Madre y Maestra University ratify a collaboration agreement for the execution of the Community Development Program (PRODECO), a social investment initiative coordinated with the PUCMM´s Urban and Regional Studies Center (CEUR), which seeks to strengthen and generate permanent processes of development in the communities neighboring the production installations of Industria de Tabaco León Jimenes, in the northeastern sector of Santiago.

The RD$1.5 million contribution made by the tobacco company and its parent company of Philip Morris International will serve to develop the actions planned within the framework of the program for the present year, ensuring accompaniment by CEUR-PUCMM of the Committee for Community Development of the Northeastern Sector, an entity responsible for community initiatives.

The ceremony of the signing of the agreement, held in the Meeting Room of the Office of the Rector of the university, took place in the presence of Monsignor Agripino Núñez Collado, rector of the university, Lutfy Mufarrij, General Director of Philip Morris International for the Dominican Republic and the Caribbean Region, Architect Annette Tejada, Executive Director of CEUR, and Guillermo De La Torre, Corporate Affairs Director of Industria de Tabaco León Jimenes, as well as other executives from both institutions.

The most outstanding results obtained by this community development program that integrates the efforts of the communities, the academic world, and industry, include the functioning of the PROCEDO Nuclei – the People’s School of Arts and Crafts (EPA) and the Community Business Initiatives Center (EMPRENDE) -, which, through specific cultural, educational, health, and economic projects benefiting participating families, constitute the basic motivation for continuity of this process.

During the years of PRODECO´s development, the nuclei have generated a change in attitude on the part of the leaders involved, based on the possibility of consolidating their capacities and opportunities, as well as generating resources that will guarantee the sustaining and growth of these nuclei, through the creation of strategic alliances with other external players, such as public and private institutions, linked to their respective areas of service.

Likewise, other specific projects are executed which form part of the agenda of the work of community commissions, neighborhood associations, and clubs in the northeastern sector, in the processes of improvement of the quality of life of the neighboring communities.

The communities benefiting by the program’s initiatives are Villa Progreso, Hoya del Caimito, Pontezuela, Don Pedro, Las Damas, Los Cerritos, El Dorado, Reparto del Este, Reparto Kokette, and Barrio Mainardi Reina.

The community nuclei:

- Committee for Community Development of the Northeastern Sector of Santiago (CODESNOR):  Created in August of 1998 and recently incorporated, it is made up of 12 neighborhood associations and institutions from the sector.

- People’s School of Arts and Crafts (EPA):  This community institution, created in September of 2004, is the main cultural focus of the sector, and its purpose is artistic training of children.  It functions in the Eduardo León Jimenes Park, next to the ITLJ installations.

- Community Business Initiatives Center (EMPRENDE): Created in June of 2005, it is oriented towards the development of economic initiatives, improvement of undertakings of the informal sector, and the generation of alternatives for the reduction of unemployment.  Its objective is to offer training, advisement, and services that will contribute to strengthening the economic and commercial bases of the participating communities.